Presidential elections were held in Tajikistan on 6 November 2013.[1] Incumbent President Emomalii Rahmon was re-elected with a reported 86.9% of the vote on a turnout of 86.6%.[2]

In power since 1992, Rahmon was seeking a new term in office, and was widely expected to be re-elected. None of his five opponents, who were "virtual unknowns even inside the country",[3] publicly criticised him, while Oynihol Bobonazarova, a human rights activist generally regarded as the only real opposition candidate was prevented from running,[4] having narrowly failed to obtain sufficient signatures to register as a candidate. Her Islamic Revival Party blamed local authorities for harassing party activists who were seeking to collect signatures.[3]

Oynihol Bobonazarova of the Islamic Revival Party withdrew her candidacy on 11 October 2013 after collecting only 202,000 of the 210,000 required.[7] The party claimed this was due to harassment from local authorities during the signature campaign and that it would not take part in the election.[6]

The Social Democratic Party also boycotted the election due to what it said were "violations of the constitution, organised falsifications and a lack of democracy and transparency."[6]

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitored the elections.[6] It reported "significant shortcomings" in the conduct of the poll, and criticised "restrictive candidate-registration requirements" including an "unreasonably large number of signatures potential candidates must gather to qualify", which it considered "resulted in a lack of pluralism and genuine choice."[8]